9.26.14 Invasives Removal/Watershed Scavenger Hunt at Daniels Area of Patapsco State Park with Hollifield Station Elementary School

Patapsco Heritage Greenway partnered with Patapsco Valley State Park and the entire 5th grade of Hollifield Station Elementary School for a fun 2 hour activity in the Daniels Area of the park on a warm and sunny Friday in September. In this 4-part "meaningful watershed environmental education" experience, students helped remove invasive "Kudzu", which is choking out the trees growing on the hill. The next activity included a CSI - creek scene investigation in the unnamed stream flowing into the Patapsco River discovering the macroinvertebrates and other stream life. The third activity was a watershed scavenger hunt where students looked and learned about the importance of trees and native plants, the problem with invasive species, understanding how dams prevent native fish from going upstream, picking up some trash (40 pounds worth) that did not belong in nature and other nature wonders in the area. The last activity was a mapping activity. Four activities in just a few hours! We appreciate Hollifield Station Elementary School sending their 5th grade students along with teachers, staff and parent helpers. Together with some of our PHG friends (131 participants), we removed an amazing 292 pounds of invasive Kudzu vines from this area of the lower Patapsco River watershed. Mrs. Powell's class removed 87 pounds; Mrs. Lutjen's class removed 77 pounds; Mr. Bayne's class removed 72 pounds and Mrs. Caroland's class removed 56 pounds!

What a difference these volunteers made in just a few hours!

Thanks to our PHG Stream Captain Team members Betsy McMillion, Pete McCallum, Tim Titus, Van Wensil, Jessica Cox, Drew Henderson, Dave Hutton, Kathy Swan, Gary Brown, Jack MacConnell, Jim Lumsden, and Anne Roy who led the group. While doing a quick orientation, the PHG Stream team members were lucky to catch a glimpse of a beautiful eagle soaring through the sky just before the kids arrived!

Special thanks to GT teacher Lori Speelman from Hollifield Station Elementary School, who organized so many volunteers to come out and lend a helping hand, park folks for all their support and Howard County Highways for helping us remove the bagged invasives and trash!

Great work and again, a big thank you to all our volunteers for a job well done!